Memory
by JZ Belexes
Summary: Reunited with the Autobots after a year of Decepticon invasion, Verity deals with the news of Hunter's death.


"You did WHAT!" the girl screamed. She charged at the red Autobot, only to find herself scooped up – gently – by Jazz. She struggled to free herself even when lifted ten feet off the ground.

"Verity, calm down," Jazz tried to soothe.

"He was only tryin' to help," Wheeljack added. Even his voice had a sad tone to it that Jimmy had never heard before. "I saw Hunter for myself. He was too far gone. Sideswipe only-"

But the mention of his name only incited greater hysterics from Verity. "HE didn't know that! He's not a medic!"

Wheeljack's ear-blinky-things flickered and dimmed. Jimmy assumed that was his version of stuttering. "It didn't take a medic to see-"

"Verity," Jazz interjected. His tone caused everyone in the abandoned garage to freeze; Wheeljack, Sideswipe, Bumblebee, Jimmy, and especially Verity. She looked up at Jazz expectantly. Even from where he stood Jimmy could see the hurt and broken trust in her eyes.

"Yeah, that wasn't Sideswipe's call t'make. But hurtin' him even if you could isn't gonna bring him back. Hunter was my bro too. But we've all lost friends to the Decepticons in this war."

"I'm just… glad you're all right," Bumblebee interjected. "As soon as we could, Optimus sent us out to find you."

For some reason Jimmy felt compelled to pat Bumblebee on the side of his leg gently, an urge he did not try to suppress. As happy as he was to see some old friends after nearly a year of hell, the reunion was frought with bad news and laden with emotions across the spectrum.

Jazz set Verity down and she straightened her shirt out in an attempt to regain her composure. She staggered over to Bumblebee. "Just… just get me out of here," she pleaded to Bumblebee. "I don't want to see _him _ever again."

Bumblebee looked at Jazz and Jazz shook his head in permission. As Bumblebee transformed Verity changed her mind and turned to face Sideswipe one more time.

"When Sunstreaker was captured by the Machination and you turned back after coming _this _close to rescuing him, I always wondered why," she said. "Now I get it. You guys may be mechanical, but iyou're/i the only tin man who doesn't have a heart." She took a deep breath to calm herself before opening Bumblebee's door. "You're a bastard, Sideswipe."

Jimmy lingered only long enough to witness Sideswipe's shocked expression before climbing into Bumblebee with his friend. Verity needed him and truthfully… he couldn't stand the sight of Sideswipe either.

"Verity, are you sure about this?" Bumblebee's avatar had a look of concern etched across "her" face. "I'm not sure if getting inebriated is the ans-"

"Don't, BB," Jimmy said. "Once Verity gets something in her mind, there's no stopping her."

"Oh right," he - she? - seemed crestfallen. "I remember now."

"You guys forget a lot of things, don'tcha?" she slurred before taking a gulp from her second margarita. "for having computers for brains, you ferget a lot. Like you fergot us. Left us to fend for ourselves when the Decepticons came."

"Now Verity, that's not fair!" Bumblebee objected.

"You're right, you're right," she shook her head in an exaggerated manner. "Youuuu were always my friend, BBB." She stood. Her legs wobbled in clear battle with her own self but she managed to stay vertical. "C'mon. I wanna do something t'make sure I never ferget."

She awoke the next morning in her and Jimmy's hideout, an old fallout shelter that had belonged to Jimmy's uncle. Her head throbbed and her mouth tasted like bile. Jimmy and "BB" loomed above her.

"HOW DO YOU FEEL?" Bumblebee thundered, causing Verity to clutch her ears shut.

"ShhhhHHHHHHhhh!"

"Google 'hangover,'" Jimmy whispered.

"What _happened_ last night?"

"Well…" Jimmy scratched the back of his head, upsetting his headband. "You didn't take the news of Hunter's death very well, so we went out for dinner and you got dr-"

"I remember that much," Verity snapped. "But… we went somewhere else before coming home. I know that much, but I can't remember what."

She felt a twinge of an itch behind her shoulder and reached back to scratch it. Jimmy snatched her by the elbow before she could and she shot him a angry glare.

"You don't wanna mess with that," he said.

"Mess with _what_?" she demanded.

BB handed her a mirror and held up another one for her. Curious, Verity positioned hers over her back and gasped.

Tattooed on the back of her shoulder, engraved into her flesh for the rest of her life, was the Alien Death Ray logo from Hunter's favorite shirt.


End file.
